On August 9th, 2019 at 7pm, two strangers met to devour the world's best chocolate chip cookie and share their stories at Tiny's Milk & Cookies in West U. It was 92 feels like a billion, the sky was shining a brilliant blue and a gentle breeze tickled the grass and leaves of the trees. It was the first time Alex & Sarah had seen each other, Alex's first impression was: wow, she's pretty cute. Sarah's first impression was: his smile is even better in person. Two gooey chocolate chip cookies and two scoops of Milk & Cookies ice cream later, they embarked upon an evening stroll in the quiet West U neighborhood. As they walked, they shared questions and answers, laughter and jokes, smiles and stories. It felt like a breath of fresh air to Alex, like listening to a new song for the first time and immediately knowing you'd want to play it over and over and over again. It felt really comfortable, like cuddling up in a chair clutching a hot cup of tea for Sarah. It was natural. It was fun. It was easy. Every good adventure starts with a step, for some it's a plane ticket, for others it's jumping in their car, for us... it was a cookie.

Our first anniversary. 1 year together jam-packed with countless adventures like flying the plane to Hot Springs for a day of hiking, great food & exploring, or cuddling up next to each other on the rooftop of a skyscraper watching a movie at the Rooftop Cinema Club, or dancing under the string lights on the Levy Park courtyard. The happy couple spent the day together, reminiscing and rejoicing, and planned to get dressed up, then meet up at Alex's house at 9pm to bust some moves on the patio. When Sarah arrived at 9, she opened the front door to find a trail of rose petals scattered on the floor, lit by the soft glow of candles. In front of the door, in a little "station," was a framed black & white photo of Alex & Sarah, rose petals gathered around it, and a card with "When I give my heart..." written on it. A little farther down the hall was another station with more photos and another card "It will be completely..." This trail continued, the cards spelling out one lyric at a time the second verse of one of Alex & Sarah's favourite songs "When I Fall in Love," until it led to the door, the last lyric before the door being "Is When I Fall in Love..." Alex opened the door and gently led Sarah to a table with a large bouquet of ruby red roses, decorated with pink tulips and rose petals and ringed with candles. In the center of the table was a book, tied with a silver ribbon, and in front of it the last lyric card "with you." Alex mentioned how their first date, and today was National Book Day, so he got her a book, and asked Sarah to read the book, entitled "If You Give a Chaplain a Cookie" out loud. Told in the style of the beloved children's classic "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" and custom illustrated, the book walked through their love story, with the last few pages saying: "If you give a chaplain your heart, she'll want a diamond ring to go with it. And if you give a chaplain a diamond ring..." You'll hope she says yes. Spoilers: She did :).